1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to systems and methods for an online data repository. More particularly, this invention relates to an online data repository that provides reconfigurable user interfaces and querying capabilities that allow for report generation and editing of data within the data repository.
2. Description of the Related Art
Search technologies are revolutionizing the management of information. With this innovation, a wide range of online business applications can be readily built upon context and/or content search for forms-based and spreadsheet-based user interfaces. Traditional online search services are primarily tools for finding information that has previously been indexed using web crawlers, which support “content” search. Search results often provide links to documents along with a small amount of text that surrounds the search results. Such services do not provide the capability for the search service to act as an online database such that information can be readily uploaded and searched by its context and/or content, by field-value pairs as is permitted in a relational database, or tag-content pairs for databases implemented in Extensible Markup Language (XML). As a result, such search services are not easily integrated with business applications using a universal schema.
There has been progress in providing search capabilities with online content. For example, online search services can be used as a large online database, where users can read structured information using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) GET and POST methods, as well as write structured information using HTTP Web-based Distributed Authoring (WEBDAV) PUT and POST methods. Initial application of this web based searching technology is for online business applications that support the management of the research and development organization, which may include online support for items such as action item tracking, asset management, and human resources.
This functionality builds upon prior work in extensible databases where information is accessed from the database in XML format through a simple Uniform Resource Locator (URL) Application Programming Interface (API) using HTTP GET or POST protocols with context and/or content and/or scope and/or Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformations (XSLT) specified. This functionality can also be applied when information is added to the database as XML files using simple HTTP PUT or POST commands as disclosed in the WEBDAV Specification. Lastly, the searching functionality can be used for databases having a universal schema where the fields are fixed and no new fields can be added for different schema. Even with the applications of this searching functionality, there is a need for a general user interface that can be readily configured with specific field information for specific business applications.
Some of these problems have been addressed, such as in U.S. Pat. No. 6,968,338 titled “Extensible Database Framework for Management of Unstructured and Semi-Structured Documents”, which describes a platform for building business applications upon searches using a universal schema. Also, U.S. Publication No. 20060047646 titled “Query-Based Document Composition”, describes a method for composing documents using the Extended Database (XDB). However, for extensible databases, these publications do not address customization of clients or applications which generally is desired when using XDB databases or any other type of extensible database. Further, these extensible databases also do not provide an easy way to add, edit, or delete individual records that may appear in tabular query results.
As a result, there is a need for user interfaces that are easily configurable for business applications that use extensible databases. More specifically, there is a need for such easily configurable interfaces for extensible databases that use tabular data contained within the databases.
In addition, the conventional online search services are lacking in that they do not provide a way for users of business applications using a universal schema to impose access control on the databases or records contained in the database. U.S. Pat. No. 5,930,801 titled “Shared-Data Environment in Which Each File Has Independent Security Properties”, describes a method for assigning access controls to each individual file in a file system but does not describe how such access controls can be imposed on individual files within a database system.